Cincinnati Bengals QB A.J. McCarron has thrown the ball well and shown great pocket presence during drills, and he has convinced the coaching staff that he is fully capable of becoming an NFL starter, according to NFL Media's Albert Breer.

Cincinnati Bengals backup QB A.J. McCarron (shoulder), who spent almost all of his rookie season in 2014 on the non-football injury list with a shoulder injury from college, plans to push QB Andy Dalton hard for the starting job in training camp this summer. "Andy's our starter. I know that. I love Andy to death. But I want to make him better every way that I can," McCarron said. The coaches said McCarron looks to be throwing pain-free this offseason. He spent the offseason training with quarterbacks coaches David Morris and Tom House, and House changed some of McCarron's mechanics to help him throw tighter with more compact body control.

Cincinnati Bengals QB Andy Dalton is not expected to enter next season with competition at quarterback, as the Bengals are not expected to draft another quarterback this year. "He's our guy and we're not going to shy away from that," says offensive coordinator Hue Jackson of Dalton and quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese offers, "He was better with the intangibles this year and the ball was better coming out of his hand. You could see that right away when he came back from the last offseason." Jackson is a fan of backup QB Jason Campbell, and the team was impressed with young QB A.J. McCarron.

Fantasy Tip: Dalton had his best completion percentage of his career this year at 64.2%, but he remains more of a mediocre QB1 based on matchups. In your fantasy football drafts next year, consider him best used as a potent backup.